(Continuation of this thread: Birds of a Feather. Long story short Alex and Margo met for the first time and in talking about their powers a man on the bus takes notice and follows to the two to the Mansion grounds. The date is July 26, 2014, so if your character is around the mansion at about that time, feel free to jump in.)

Alex wished he hadn't been right. He really, really wished he hadn't. They were a few blocks away from the mansion, in the home stretch of getting somewhere safe. And who do they have tailing them?! Well actually he had no idea but he was pretty certain the guy was up to no good. Following two teens wasn't exactly the pinnacle of pure intentions. Not unless you were chaperoning he supposed.

He didn't look back. Didn't need to. Mary was above them, the hawk relaying the man's position to him. Through the hawks eyes he was able to see what the man looked like. Scruffy features, jacket despite the warmth outside, maybe 30 to 40 years old.

Was his arm hanging to closely to his side, a gun, a hidden weapon? He couldn't tell! It was nerve-wracking having someone tailing them and he had no idea how to handle the situation.

Calm, just stay calm...The mansion was coming into view, almost there. He had to fight the temptation to run. Instead his hand tightened around Margo's when he heard the tell-tale sound of a gun's safe clicking off. "H-hold it right there!" The man's voice trembled, as if terrified.

Alex paused, giving Margo a glance. They already discussed what they would do, Margo would go for help, Alex would be right behind her. Hopefully...

Swallowing fear, the young man released Margo's hand slowly and turned to look at the man. "Can I help you sir?" He kept his voice as calm as he could. Getting a good look at the guy, he could see that the man apparently hadn't been getting any sleep, if the dark bags under his eyes were any indication. There was also the matter of how the gun trembled. The man wasn't sure of himself.

"You two are mutants aren't you? Right under our noses this whole time, two little freaks pretending to be kids." There was an edge of paranoia in the stranger's voice, "Well I won't have! Not any more!"

"Sir, we did nothing wrong. Please, just calm down."Alex turned slowly to face the man fully, flinching when the gun was aimed for his head, wobbling dangerously.

God, they'd almost made it. They'd almost made it. The Mansion was coming into view, Margo was just starting to breath out in relief, thinking she'd been right, that he wouldn't dare to try anything out in public, when- click. The sound of a gun, a shaky voice threatening behind them.

"H-hold it right there!"

"Can I help you, sir?" A pause as Alex glanced at her, then turned toward the direction of the voice. Suppressing the terror they were both feeling, answering. Breathing in, she pivoted as well, light on her toes, every muscle in her body ready to just bolt. She took the scene in all at once, the eavesdropper from the bus after all, confirming her fears. His uncertain stance, the quaver in his words, a wild look in his sleepless eyes, but most of all, the hidden gun in his hand. Danger, every instinct screamed. Here was no sociopath hiding behind a polished mask; this time, there would be no talking or playing along or a battle of wits; this time, her identity as a mutant would not protect her but condemn her. This man was ever so much more dangerous because he was unsure, his determination more deadly because he was frightened.

His words did nothing to belay her fears. "You two are mutants aren't you? Right under our noses this whole time, two little freaks pretending to be kids. Well I won't have! Not any more!" Well, there went any help she had hoped to get. The street where they stood was fairly deserted, and emptying by the second. People just noticing what was happening glanced at each other and might have stepped in, that was, until they heard his words. "Mutant", "Freak." they muttered among themselves. They glanced at each other again, and took the excuse to magically disappear from the area. It shocked her. She'd known of this, but seeing mutant hate for herself was another thing. What did they think, that the presence of an x-gene made one a monster, an anomaly, an alien, an animal?

Alex was saying something in a pleading tone, but she could care less. Huh, what did he think was going to happen? The blood rushed into her head. All she saw was the gun, pointed at his head. Saw the man's trigger finger, shaking.

They'd planned this out, the girl reminded herself. She would run for help, he would be right behind her. She saw now that that would never happen. She would not run, leaving Alex to whatever fate would befall him. Running would probably be the action that would set the man off anyway. What did it matter anyway? Things would come to a head in a couple seconds anyway, no matter what she did. What did it matter? It mattered everything.

She took a long stare at Alex, hoping he knew, could see that she wasn't going to be going anywhere for the moment. Looking the man in the eyes, she said levelly, "Look, us freaky freaks are going somewhere just for freaks like us, and once we're out of your sight, you'll never see us again." Her heart pounded in her chest, but she kept her gaze on his, moving just a bit closer. Not too much, anything could set him off at the moment. But closer, letting him see the advantage in his height. Would he let them off? It was a futile hope.

She was crazy. Margo was putting all her money into a losing bet.

Bored. Bored, bored, bored.

That was all that ran through Danny's head as he prowled the streets of New York - at least, he thought he was prowling. Really, he was looking for something to do, someone to fight, because he had just met a boy terrified of being a mutant because of what other people had said, and really wanted to take it out on somebody. But he'd been out here a little over an hour and all he'd done was get a heavenly chocolate croissant at his new favorite coffee shop in New York. He was starting to drift near an area that he'd never been to before, now - he may have been in NYC a while, but he tried to stay away from other mutants in order to attract less attention. And from what he'd seen, this place was a hotbed for mutants.

He was walking aimlessly through the streets when something caught his attention. He'd been walking behind two young teenagers for a while now, intending to at least take a peek at the mansion since he was here anyway, and had assumed that they were heading there as well. But somebody was following him. Well, not him, since he had long since mastered the art of losing a tail, and he was pretty sure that even the most inexperienced tail wouldn't walk right past their target. So, he wasn't the mark. Then who was?

From where he had ducked into an alleyway, having passed the two teenagers by now, he had a clear view of them as they walked into his line of sight. He couldn't hear much, but they were clearly anxious, glancing furtively back and trying hard not to bolt. Then the male and the older of the two stiffened, and Danny realized that his tail was actually their tail, and said tail had a gun. With the safety off.

And so Danny found that what little he had of a conscience was niggling at him to go and try to help. The two looked like fellow mutants, considering there was a hawk circling over their heads - he wasn't one for biology, but he was pretty sure that bird wasn't native, nor did it have a penchant to follow random strangers around. But even as he debated the pros and cons of assisting with himself, the scene was going on in front of him. Though he had many talents, lip-reading wasn't one of them, and he couldn't tell what specific words were being exchanged. But he was relatively perceptive when it came to body language, and he'd bet a psychology scholarship that the armed man's read "I hate mutants and I'm gonna kill you." Also, "I have an itchy trigger finger and I just can't wait for an excuse to use it." Seeing as the guy's barrel was pointing directly at the older boy's head, Danny decided to step in. Not like he could die or anything like that.

"Hey, you!" Danny stepped out of the alley, yelling to get the attention of the three people in the middle of the street. He walked purposefully up to them, smoothly inserting himself in between the teenagers and their clearly violent aggressor. "What's your problem?" A good advantage of being so old was that while you looked like a teen, your eyes told a different story. He seemed much older than he actually physically was, and Danny was counting on that to make him look like a threat. "Picking on a bunch of younger kids. With a gun, too. Is that what you do in your spare time?" Behind him, he waved his gauntleted hand in the universal signal of "get out," then settled his hands behind his back. He quietly flipped open the cap on the suicide button, a finger hovering over it. If he was going to waste some of his time going through a rebirth, it might as well be the quickest rebirth possible. He just hoped that the armed man would get intimidated and back off, though he was pretty sure that wouldn't happen. And that those two kids would run off, but judging from what he'd seen of those stupidly heroic mutants from the Mansion, they might not.

"Look, us freaky freaks are going somewhere just for freaks like us, and once we're out of your sight, you'll never see us again."

Margo's words didn't really help the situation, instead giving the man a new target, her. Alex stepped in front of her, ready to try and defend her. He didn't know why, maybe it was because she was younger than him, not as exposed to the world as he had. Maybe he had some miss placed heroism in him. But either way, he did it really without thinking, "Please, we're not asking for trouble. We just want to go home."

The man had opened his mouth to speak, make more threats, perhaps proclaim some sort of reason for all of this. But suddenly there was someone interrupting, inserting himself between them and the gunmen. "Hey, you! What's your problem? Picking on a bunch of younger kids. With a gun, too. Is that what you do in your spare time?" He didn't recognize the guy, didn't know if he was just a stranger off the street or a resident of the mansion. But he was enough to give the man pause. Alex saw the motion of the hand but didn't move.

"Those two aren't kids! There monsters! I'm doing what's right, they'll become dangerous. I'm taking care of this before that happens!"the man shouted, gun leveling with the newcomer's head. He gripped the gun with both hands now, try to steady his trembling. "I'm doing what's right and if you're defending them then that must mean you're one of them!"

And then something weird happened. For the first time his construct broke orders. He could feel the ripple of fury pass down their connection, Mary was pissed. So she broke the order to stay above and gather information, instead dive bombing the gunmen, like a three pound missile of feathers and rage. The attack had been such a surprise to the man, talons ripping into his outstretched arm, that he let off a shot. Thankfully the bullet merely hit the pavement but the sound itself was deafening.

Everything happened so quickly, Margo barely had time to comprehend any of it. One moment, Alex was trying to step in front of her, to defend her or whatever he thought he could do, saying something about not looking for trouble... The next, a stranger had appeared and conveniently placed himself between herself, Alex, and the gunman. There was something strange about this newcomer, something in his voice and the brief glimpse she caught of his eyes, but the girl hardly had time to note his apparent youth before all hell broke loose.

It must have caught their threatener awfully unprepared, for she was so unprepared herself for what happened next. He was leveling the gun at the newcomer's head (Thank God, still not at hers) hands shaking as terribly as ever. Oh, if she had only her own safety to worry about, she would have run for it that moment. If only, if only.

Something must have happened, because Marry, who had been circling around their heads for the last couple minutes, suddenly dove. Perhaps Alex had reacted under stress, given into his anger? Or maybe he had simply lost his concentration for a moment. In any case, the three- pound ball of fathers and talons and wrath that was his hawk hurtled itself at the man. It caught him off guard all right. Margo was practically deafened by the sound of the gunshot not five feet away from her.

That settled it: she was mad. Before, she'd been terrified but clinging to the hope that this might not become a full out street brawl. It looked like such hopes were long forlorn. Oh, this was a fight, alright. A fight where she had no power to do anything. Darn that frigging useless mechanism that was her mutation. Darn the fact that she had learned little in the art of fighting. If there had been anything she could have done, she would have done it. As it was, she could do practically nothing. No chance of reasoning now, or talking herself out of it. No chance of running while Alex and whoever this guy who had stepped out for them were in danger.

Gritting her teeth, she literally hurled herself at the man, taking advantage of the fact that his gun was temporarily pointed away from them. He was distracted by the hawk, so this was as good a chance as she was going to get right? Right? "Heaven's sake, just leave us alone!" She hissed, aiming a kick at his knee and an elbow toward whatever vital part happened to be in her reach as she tumbled again out of the melee, adding a shove for good measure. She flattened herself against the nearby wall, out of the way. It was the best the girl could think of to do.

"Those two aren't kids! There monsters! I'm doing what's right, they'll become dangerous. I'm taking care of this before that happens!"

Danny scoffed, muttering under his breath, "What, and you, the guy with the gun, isn't dangerous? I think somebody forgot to take care of you before - well, you happened."

"I'm doing what's right and if you're defending them then that must mean you're one of them!" The gun leveled at Danny's head, and he didn't flinch. The man's hands were still shaking, and that worried Danny, but only if the man missed. That meant possibly hitting one of the other two, and unlike him, they could get hurt. Probably. Considering that the bird had just dive-bombed the gunman, which was almost definitely something a regular bird didn't do, he was going to go with one of them controlled animals or something. A shot went off, and Danny's attention was immediately diverted to the new whole in the pavement for a brief moment. The noise barely fazed him, and he checked around instead for injuries - nobody had been hit.

Then to his great surprise, the girl launched herself at their attacker.

He had assumed she was the one controlling the animal, for some reason - probably because she hadn't looked fit for combat, or at least less so that her companion. "Heaven's sake, just leave us alone!" His eyebrows raised as she continued pummeling the man, before finally ending with a shove and pulling herself to the side. That... that was impressive. And slightly terrifying, to say the least. Time for him to step in.

"You heard what she said." Danny drew his Spyderco Warrior blade from the inside of his jacket, all five and a half inches of it glittering in the sunlight, the wickedly curved blade honed to a point. He stood just between the man and the girl, because who said chivalry was dead? He certainly wasn't going to just launch himself at the man. For starters, he had a gun, and secondly, Danny actually had no idea how to fight offensively - his training almost entirely consisted of defense, which meant he'd have to wait for somebody else to make the first move.

The man struggled with the bird, screaming as it attempted to claw his face, and in his fright he had dropped the gun. Then suddenly Margo was on him too, landing a few good blows before shoving the man to the ground, toppling him over. "Marry, that's enough!"Alex had shaken himself out of his stupor to call out to his feathered companion, who thankfully returned to him, flying over and perching herself on his arm.

He looked on as the stranger huddled there for a second, protecting his bleeding face and arms, before attempting to scramble for the gun. Only to have the third mutant pull a blade on him. He looked from the blade to the gun on the ground and back again. For a second Alex thought the man might try again but instead, with a barely whimper, the man rushed to his feet, turned tail and ran.

Alex sighed in relief, good thing that was over. He looked over at his feathered construct with some concern. Marry had a strong personality sure but she had never broken orders before, never acted outside the boundaries of what she had been told. It was...frightening, he hadn't ever lost control before. Still it was a good thing she had. "Well we've got DNA evidence and a weapon if we want to press charges."he commented.

OOC: Wow, that was faster than I expected. Thank goodness

Margo, pressed against the brick alleyway wall, had long since decided something. That slow-motion, choreographed dance-fight thing in movies? It didn't exist.

What she knew did exist was terror. Primitive terror the moment she stumbled out of the mess of flapping, clawing hawk and bleeding gunman. Dread that she had brought his wrath upon them by attacking him, as she watched him pitch over and huddle there, clutching his head and arms. And then incredulous, impossible relief as their threatener turned tail and fled as he was faced down with three angry mutant kids and a knife.

"Well we've got DNA evidence and a weapon if we want to press charges." Alex's voice was oddly calm for what they had just gone through. Margo's heart still hammered in her chest, and she wanted to crouch down in a corner and... She didn't know, freak out? But she didn't. Instead, she replied, her voice much dryer than she'd expected. "Really?" She shot him a glance, talking half to herself now. "That's what anyone would have done, what I would have done back in the old days. But after that little show... Even if some miracle occurred and we did win the case, which would never happen, we'd have half the city after us."

Now that the adrenaline was mostly out of her system, the full impact of what she had done hit her. What must Alex and the other boy, the knife boy, think of her? A flush rising in her cheeks, she muttered, "I was just so panicked, I panicked. I didn't mean to." She couldn't bring herself to ask if they were alright, or about the newcomer either.

"Marry, that's enough!" The older boy yelled something, and for a moment Danny though he was referring to the girl until the hawk flew over and perched on his arm. That definitely cemented his thoughts that the boy was the one with the animal-controlling mutation. He looked vaguely concerned, leading Danny to believe that the hawk hadn't attacked because of an order, giving Danny a little less faith that the hawk wouldn't attack him either.

As for their attacker himself, he took one look at Danny and his knife before bolting. That was a pretty massive ego boost. Not that he minded.

"Well we've got DNA evidence and a weapon if we want to press charges." Danny didn't say anything, letting his scoffing expression speak for itself. The girl seemed to agree, commenting how it'd get them nowhere, and Danny nodded along. Come to think of it, he didn't really have a part in this discussion, seeing as he wasn't the one being attacked in the first place, but he decided not to bring that up.

Then the girl almost visibly deflated. "I was just so panicked, I panicked. I didn't mean to." What was she...oh, lashing out against their attacker. That kind of remorse wasn't something he was familiar with anymore, but he spoke up anyway, awkwardly trying to comfort her.

"Hey, uh...that was pretty brave, what you did. You knocked him down before we could do anything." Then he glanced back at the guy, addressing both of them this time. "First time in a fight, I'm guessing?" Only then did he realize his knife was still out, and with a practiced twirl and a flourish, he tucked it back into the sheath in his jacket. (He may be showing off just a little.) "I'm Danny. Nice to meet you, I guess."

(Sorry if that was too short guys. Let me know if you want me to go back and edit things to length it out a bit.)

"That's what anyone would have done, what I would have done back in the old days. But after that little show... Even if some miracle occurred and we did win the case, which would never happen, we'd have half the city after us."

Alex glanced at Margo and nodded. She had a point, there was no reason to call the cops in on this one. But considering who lived at the mansion, he knew a lot of them would feel safer if the cops were at least informed about this guy. They should at the very least hand over the gun. Best not to let it stray in to worse hands. With that thought in mind he went to pick it up, carefully sliding it into the back pocket of his bag. He was intent on handing it over to one of the teachers or counselors in the mansion.

"I was just so panicked, I panicked. I didn't mean to."

He was about to speak up, reassure her that she did the right thing, that in fact her little bout of guts probably saved them. But the stranger beat him to it, "Hey, uh...that was pretty brave, what you did. You knocked him down before we could do anything. I'm Danny. Nice to meet you, I guess."

Alex stood, going over to Margo and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "This is Margo and I'm Alex. Thanks for your help Danny."he said before glancing at Margo, "Do you wanna go inside and sit down?" She definitely looked like she could take a break.

(Nah, I don't mind unless anybody else does.)

It was quite obvious the boy-Danny as he introduced himself- had gotten quite the wrong idea. "Hey, uh...that was pretty brave, what you did. You knocked him down before we could do anything." He said awkwardly, apparently trying to comfort her. She appreciated the effort, and Alex's as well as he came over to put a hand on her shoulder. It was really quite funny, how they treated her, and she might have laughed except for the fact that that might lower their expectations of her even lower. Wouldn't want that to happen. "No, I mean, that wasn't what I meant. Not really. Just that it was..." An idiotic thing to do? Completely unlike her? "...Stupid. Not thought out." She finished, shaking it off. "Anyhow, no matter."

It irritated her a little that Alex introduced her himself, without waiting for her, but she didn't mind... too much. It wasn't that she could talk for herself or anything. Besides, what if she hadn't really wanted to give Danny her name? The girl firmly pushed such doubts away- he had pretty much saved their lives, hadn't he? It didn't matter if he had a knife, or that he hadn't even flinched when the gun was pointed at his head.

She gave Alex the purposeful look of death when he said, "Do you wanna go inside and sit down?"

"Sure.." Margo drawled. "Go inside yes, sit down not so much." A two finger salute to Danny, a glance at the bulk of the gun in Alex's bag. "Nice to meet you, Danny. I owe you big. You know where to find me if you ever wanna call up on that." She meant that, and it filtered through into her smile, her wink. "See you."

she turned back to Alex. "Lead the way."

"No, I mean, that wasn't what I meant. Not really. Just that it was...Stupid. Not thought out. Anyhow, no matter." Danny frowned but said nothing. Somebody was clearly inexperienced in a fight, which made Danny kind of doubt she'd be okay in the highly mutant-phobic NYC, but he quickly dismissed those horribly mutinous thoughts against his own very much neutral psyche.

"This is Margo and I'm Alex. Thanks for your help Danny." Danny nodded, muttering something quietly that sounded like "no problem." But he noticed the girl - Margo - looked a little bit irritated at her friend. He was going to go with she didn't like her name being thrown around in public, and that Alex hadn't known her long enough to learn that. But he couldn't be sure - he'd lived long enough to be able to read most emotions accurately, but he didn't want to screw up and get the wrong idea.

"Do you wanna go inside and sit down?" Alex to Margo this time, and Danny had to say, if looks could kill, Alex would be so far gone his skeleton would have already disintegrated. That was most definitely an irritated glare.

"Sure...Go inside yes, sit down not so much." Even a deaf man could probably feel her words dripping with annoyance. Maybe he was overexaggerating a bit, but the concept was about right. Margo gave him a little two-fingered salute. "Nice to meet you, Danny. I owe you big. You know where to find me if you ever wanna call up on that." She winked, and to Danny's surprise, she seemed pretty sincere. "See you."

Wait.

What?

Damn it. 200+ years and he still couldn't understand girls.

"Lead the way," she said to Alex, and Danny gave a little wave before turning around and disappearing into an alley - the same one he had come from, in fact. He might visit the X-Mansion some day, but today, he wasn't really in the mood. Maybe he might even break into it one day.

He was already formulating a tiny plan by the time he got back to his motorcycle.

[OOC: And Danny's out!]

Alex winced at Margo's look. Right, people and their subtle needs, he really needed to learn that before opening his mouth. Part of the reason he almost preferred being alone than being with other people, almost. Couldn't say he hadn't enjoyed Margo's company up until now. The gun totting psycho just made things more difficult. Shifting his backpack and feeling the weight of the weapon he was reminded of how close a call this had been. If Danny hadn't shown up one of them would have definitely been shot.

He gave their rescuer one wave goodbye before leading Margo toward the mansion once more. It was close enough that in a few minuets time they were on the grounds and safely inside the gate. His hawk fluttered off to roost on the roof above his window, feeling that it was safe enough to leave him be.

He was beginning to notice that too, his constructs were becoming more and more thoughtful of his needs. It seemed like recently the more he used them in combat or defensive situations the smarter they got. Ace and Mary in particular, he needed to use Pick and Pocket more to see if his building theory held any water.

He didn't linger on the thought though, Margo still seemed miffed. "I'm sorry if I did something to bug you." He didn't know what exactly, could have been him giving out her first name to a stranger, could have been that he asked if she wanted to go and sit down. Could have been any number of things. But whatever it was, best to set it right now rather than later.

Margo definitely knew as they walked into the Mansion that the place was definitely that big of a deal. They got in without any more trouble; it was barely a couple minutes' walk from the disastrous street corner where they'd been confronted by the gun-wielding madman. A part of her remembered all too clearly what had just happened. Another part didn't want to care. For her sanity's sake, couldn't care. In any case, the huge... mansion... that would be her refuge for the days following was by far distracting enough. It looked pretty amazing. How in the world did this place get funded?

"I'm sorry if I did something to bug you." Alex was saying, once they got in and halted. Really? She'd not have guessed that he would say that. Heck, she hadn't even known why she'd been so annoyed on the first place when he had obviously been trying to help her. It wasn't as if she wasn't grateful.

"Nope." She said in reply, smiling to show that it was past. "It doesn't really matter. I guess I was sort of on edge, and the fact that you and Danny were trying to be gentlemen set me off. You know, it was kind of incongruous. Silly... Woah, this place is really awesome."

She was very grateful.

(I don't know if you want to end it here or not. If you do I can go back and edit)

"Nope. It doesn't really matter. I guess I was sort of on edge, and the fact that you and Danny were trying to be gentlemen set me off. You know, it was kind of incongruous. Silly... Woah, this place is really awesome."

He opened his mouth to speak only to fall silent as she looked about the place. He could have apologized again for setting her off. But it wasn't really important at this point, she was happy and that was all that mattered. So instead he focused his energy on introducing her to the place. As much as he could, being that he had only become a resident mere weeks ago. Still he knew were all the normal stuff was. The kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms, and lastly the offices.

It was still early enough for her to call her dad and arrange all the paperwork. At this point he forgotten entirely about the gun he had acquired or that he should probably alert someone about what happened. It wasn't exactly something that he should have kept to himself. But after all that had happened, he'd rather not ruin what good cheer came out of this day.

So by the end of it Margo had officially joined the school and it would only be a matter of time before her things were brought and she was given a room of her own. He was glad things worked out like they did. This day could have been so much worse.

On retreating to his own room for the night he remembered the gun. Sitting on his bed, he contemplated the weapon that almost killed them. It was a standard thing, the kind you'd see movies, the kind that's indistinguishable from any other. Like the knife that already sat in his bag it was a tool, one that could be used for protection. In the end, sliding it beneath his bed, he decided that it wouldn't be such a bad idea to keep it.

(And I believe that's a wrap.)